Sweet Buns
I love bread. I have bread for breakfast almost everyday ever since I was young. This is my first attempt in making bread buns, like those "6-in-1" buns available at neighbourhood bakery shops. I have always wondered how they "join" or "mold" the bread into 6 buns. Thanks to the many food blogs out there, I was able to learn how this is done from step-by-step photos shared by bloggers. In case you are as ignorant as me, this is done simply by placing 6 doughs into one baking pan. The individual buns will join together after they are baked! Now, why I did'nt think of that?!
As I do not have a heavy duty mixer, I made the bread by hand. It is not easy. You will need to knead the dough continuously for at least 25 mins. The hard work did pay off though, the buns turn out to be very fluffy and soft. I was not very good in shaping the dough, they came in "all shapes and sizes" despite the fact that I weigh the dough to ensure each one was of equal weight.
I adapted the recipe from this site.
Ingredients:
(make around nine 60g portions)
150g bread flour
150g cake flour
5g active dry yeast
3g salt
125g milk
1 egg
60g caster sugar
50g butter
(1 egg, beaten, for glazing)
Method:
Method:
- Mix all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add in milk, egg and butter. Mix into a dough.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough until the gluten is fully developed (see tip below) and the dough is elastic, smooth and non-sticky. It will take about 25 mins to knead the dough by hand. Initially the dough will stick on to the work surface. Do not be tempted to add more flour or even give up kneading! After continuous kneading, the dough will no longer stick to the work surface.
- Place the dough in the mixing bowl and cover with a damp towel or cling wrap to seal in the moisture. Allow the dough to ferment(or proof) until double in bulk. This will take about 1 hr in our Singapore weather. To test whether the dough has been fully proofed, press a finger into the dough and withdraw quickly. It should leave a deep impression and spring back very slowly. For an insufficiently proofed dough, the impression will spring back instantly.
- Take out the dough and punch out the gas produced. Let the dough rest for about 15 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 60g portions. Shape and add fillings as desired. Arrange dough in a greased or lined pan. Rest for about another 15 minutes.
- Brush the top with whole egg mixture. Add almond flakes on the top of the buns, as desired.
- Bake for about 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 190 degC. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
Tip:
To check whether the dough is fully developed, take a small piece of the dough and stretch it with your fingers. If it can be stretched into a thin layer without tearing easily, the dough is fully developed.
121 comments:
I would just like to ask if powdered milk was use in these recipe or is it whole milk? I was suppose to try this last time but I wasn't sure of the milk. Thanks in advance :)
Hi Anne, it's not milk powder...just use fresh milk, I use either HL or Daisy low-fat milk, depending on what I have in the fridge :)
Can't wait to see your blog posting on this!
Hi,
What is the difference between active dry yeast and instant yeast?
Thanks!
Yvonne
Yvonne, what a good question u have asked! I used to be very puzzled with the difference between these two types of yeast :)
According to my understand, instant yeast becomes active the moment it comes into contact with the liquid ingredients...it can be mixed directly with the flour and other dry ingredients and is not as sensitive as active dry yeast to temperature changes. Hence, it's good for making bread with bread machines.
Whereas active dry yeast will only active when dissolved in lukewarm liquid. So far I have been using Instant yeast. Hope this helps :)
Thanks for the explanation. I've been trying this sweet bread recipe but somehow the bread are not soft like yours. I even put the dough through 2 rounds of kneading by the bread machine. Can you enlighten me?
Thanks!
Yvonne
Hi Yvonne, I am not sure what went wrong? Since the dough must have been well kneaded...it could be the proofing/rising/shaping part that affects the texture. As you didn't mention how you went about making the bread, I can't really pin down which area. But here's my guess:
Did you use your bread machine to proof the dough? If yes, it should be ok. However, if you proof it at our room temperature, you will need to place the dough in a large bowl and cover it with cling wrap. You will also need to give it enough time for the second proofing (after shaping)...at least 35 mins - 45mins...depending on the weather.
Furthermore, after the first rise, try not to knead the dough, just pounch out the air and lightly knead it once or twice to form a round big dough...then scale to the desired portion. During shaping, do be gentle with the dough as well. Then after shaping and proofing for the 2nd time, don't touch the dough anymore, just brush with glaze (if desired) and put in the oven. Bread dough are rather sensitive...have to treat it like handling a baby ;) Hope this helps to clear away some of your doubts??
thanks for sharing this recipe :)
Hi there,
Your buns look wonderful. This is my dream, to make soft buns. Hope this recipe helps. By the way, what do you mean by cake flour, is it self-raising flour?
Regards,N.M.P.
Hi N.M.P, cake flour is different from self-raising flour, it has got a lower protein content.
Hi there! Huge fan of your site..you have almost all the recipes that i have been searching for in vain! One question for this recipe...it doesn't mention when to add the butter. And is the butter supposed to be melted or at room temp? Thanks so much
Deb
Hi Deb, thanks!
No, the butter is not to be melted, just leave a room temperature will do. You can mix the butter together with the other ingredients to form the dough. Hope this helps :)
hii i am a big fan too of your blog!! i am 13 years old and im wondering if u can help me chnage the grams into cups for me? becuase i am really confused....or perhaps you know a website tat can help me convert?
THANKS!!!
Hi Anonymous, thanks for your comments! You are only 13? and yet you like baking! how nice!
You can refer to the two links under "Tools' on my side bar...for the conversion. I usually use a weighing scale and my measurements are in metric, so I had to convert from cups to grams :) Happy baking!
hi, it's also my dream to bake some bread for my kids but i have failed when i tried to follow a recipe in newspaper last weekend :(
so happy to find this simple recipe n tempted to try, but can i substitute cake flour with all-purpose flour (how much)? cuz i hardly bake and dun want to waste $ to buy whole package of cake flour. many thanks.
Hi, sorry to hear about your failed attempt. Yes, you may subsitute the cake flour with plain flour by adding some corn flour/corn starch in it. You can refer to this site for the subsitition (http://joyofbaking.com/IngredientSubstitution.html). Hope you have success with this recipe :)
hi Happy Homebaker!
i tried this recipe today and it turned out great!
just that it doesn't look as fluffy as the buns you made.
and also, the shape is horrendous!
*blushes
but other than that, all was good :D
Happy Homebaker, its me! i just got my bread machine and planning to start my bread making project this weekend. can i made this sweet bun using breadmachine? can you tell me the instruction? should i just put everything into it? which function should i use? please advice! FYI, I just made a chicken pie last week. please take a look. :)Chicken Pie. Happy Baking!
Hi Jovial, yes, you can use the bread machine to knead the dough for this recipe. Just place the ingredients according to the sequence as stated in your instruction manual. For my machine, I need to place the liquid ingredients before the dry ones...ie. first goes in the milk (I use fresh low fat milk), egg (lightly beaten), butter, then followed by the salt, sugar, cover with the flours and last add in the yeast. Use the DOUGH function to knead. You can either proof the dough at room temperature(ie take out the dough after the kneading completes) or let the dough proof in the machine...ie let the machine complete the entire Dough cycle (mine will take 1hrs 30mins). Then shape and add fillings as desired. If you prefer to have very soft buns, you can let the machine to knead the dough for 10mins, stop the machine, restart it again using the same Dough function. This will allow the dough to knead for 30mins (the standard dough kneading time is 20mins for my machine). Hope you have fun making these buns! Do drop me a note after you have tried it! Love to hear from you :)
hey happy homebaker..i would like to say im happy for you to be baking so many of this////love bread..
em..i just use what i have in my house and have fun with what turns out in the end
i used
few hundreads grams of high protein flour and light wholemeal bread flour...i added few tsp of yeast..few hundread grams of sugar....some milk...vanilla extract and knead it....im doing it at night..so i'll take your other advices on what to do next...
whatr do you think...?
hi happy homebaker, is me! i deleted my previous comment because i have updated my blog url. Just want to let u know i had make the sweet bun using ur recipe. please check it out!!!
http://trixplanetz.blogspot.com/2008/01/homemade-sausage-sweet-bun.html
hi happy homebaker
i baked cheese buns using your sweet bun recipes. i only need to knead 10min. your blog post said you took 25min. i dun think anything went wrong, because everybody loved the bread. thks for a great recipe!
Hi Sandy, glad to hear that you have great success with your cheese buns :D
I usually take about 25-30mins to knead the dough by hand...as it is very sticky and wet. I do not add any flour while kneading, maybe that's the reason why I take so long? Do you have a blog? as I can't access your blog via your blogger profile :(
hi happy homebaker
i'm in love with making bread! i made another batch today! hubby said vv expensive hobby, but i told him as long as he and the kids love the bread, it's ok. fresh, no preservatives, only love. hahahaha...
i didn't add any flour while kneading, but only took me 10-15min to have a nice, elastic, smooth dough. it's still a little sticky, but passed the stretch test.
here's my blog address.
http://pax-recipe.blogspot.com/
can i link u up? :)
Hi Sandy, bread making is very addictive! nothing beats the aroma from freshly baked homemade breads!
May I know what kind of flour do u use? I suspect it's the flour...coz some types of flour is able to absorb more water. I sure want to learn how to knead the dough within 15mins!
It's my pleasure to have u link me up :)
i've used 2 different brands of bread flour so far - PH and Bake King. For cake flour, only PH so far.
Would I be able to use regular flour as a substitute?
Hi Anonymous, for breads and buns, it's best to use bread flour as it has got a higher protein (gluten) content. However, I think it is still possible to use regular flour, only that the bread will be slightly more dense, and you may not slightly less water. You will have to work really well on the kneading part to fully develop the gluten in the flour. Hope this helps :)
Hi Homebaker,
Came accross your blog when i was doing a search for bread recipe. You have a great website.
I tried your sweet bun receipe last night and voila, it came out well, as this is my first time attmpting to bake bread.
I must say the tricky part is the kneading. It was so sticky. Even after 25min, i still felt it was a lil sticky but it passed the stretch test so i went ahead with proofing. But after proofing for i hr, when i touch the dough it was still a lil sticky and didn't pass the indent test. Nevertheless, the bun was softy
The bun was still soft this morning. My only setback was that the crust was a lil' hard. Could it be my oven temp. I set at 190/15min. Thanks for your advice. Am going to try your everyday bread next.Cheers, Mal
Hi Mai, thanks for visiting :)
Glad to hear that you like the sweet buns. I often faced with a sticky dough even after the 1st proof. Next time, you can let it proof (1st proofing) up till 1.5hrs if it doesnt pass the indent test.
The hard crust could be due to the oven temperature...as every oven is different. You may want to adjust to 180deg C next time. My oven is always on the 'cool side! The other factor would be...if u didnt cover the dough with cling wrap (both for the 1st and 2nd proof), the crust could turn hard.
Your buns looked lovely. I have tried your recipe 2x and each time I get very sticky dough. I let the breadmachine do the kneading. But the end results are still pretty soft buns.
May I know how to convert 125g milk into cup measurement?
Thanks.
Hi. May I know how do I convert 125g of fresh milk to cup measurements?
Thanks.
Hi MIM, Rita,
you can visit this site (http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/cookingconversions.asp?Action=find) to look for the conversion from weight to cup.
MIM, you can try letting your bread machine knead for an extra 10mins or so.
Hi did you use active dry or instant yeast? It says active dry in the recipe but your method seems to be for instant yeast.
Hi MJ, I used instant yeast. I didn't know the difference between the two until much later. Sorry for the confusion, hope I didn't cause any inconvenience :(
Hi,
Man, your stuff rules! I been trying to make bread in the past and it's always come out very dense, but that might be because I used plain flour!?
Anyway, I'm going to try cake/bread flour and see what happens! I am confident it will work!
Thank you so much!
Martin
dear hhb,
your blog is awesome! i can't wait to try the bread recipes you're sharing.
thank you for telling us how to get the buns to join together. i'm one of those idiot who was wondering how u did it until i read your comment.
1) do you have any step by step blogs to recommend?
2) are loaf pans sold only in 1 size? how did u manage to get 3 loaves from ur "just a loaf of bread" post.
3) most cake recipes will specify the size of the tin to be used. how do u decide what size for bread?!?
hungry and blur!
Hi Martin, I'm sure you will come up with something great, have fun baking :D
Hi hungry and blur!
thanks for your compliments :)
1) I'm sorry I dont have any step-by-step blogs to recommend, however, there are many great food blogs out there, I'm sure you will be able to find something you like. Keep search ;)
2) There are different sizes of loaf pans. However, over here I've only seen 2 ~ 3 different sizes. For that post, I only made One loaf, it looks like three as I have shaped it into 3 rolls.
3) The size of my pullman tin is about length:7.5", width:4", ht:4". The size of the finished bread looks like those local store-bought loaves. Usually most bread recipes will state the size of the loaf pan, if you are following my recipe, then the pan size to use is (7.5"x4"x4"). Hope this helps.
thank you :) i'll pop by PH this weekend to pick up a loaf tin of 7.5" x 4" x 4". the green tea bread with azuki beans is calling my name :p
sorry to be anal, can u give me the size of the pan u used for this recipe (sweet bun) as well? i can tell it's a square pan and wondering if my 8" sq cake ring can do the job.
thank you
pansy
Hi Pansy, I used a 8' square pan for this sweet bun.
Dear HHB
I grease and line my baking tray with greaseproof paper and yet after baking, the buns always stick to the paper. FYI, I was baking sausage buns.
Does it mean I just need to grease the pan and omit the baking paper?
Thanks!
Hi Rita,
If you have greased your pan, then u dont have to use the baking paper. If you are using baking paper, then u dont have to grease it.
Do take note of the type of greaseproof paper you are using...I use 'baking paper' or 'parchment paper' which is non-stick, brand name is "Glad". I used to use a certain type of greaseproof paper and my cookies would still stick to it!
hi rita,
I tried out your buns twice - love the flavour but my buns are hard. in fact, i can't leave them overnight!
my weighing machine can't do 5g as it is too little. i used 1 tablespoon baking king's instant yeast. can i ask if the conversion from active yeast to instant yeast is 1 to 1:?
thanks
pansy
Hi Pansy, I am not sure whether this comment is meant for me? as my name is not Rita??
4g of Instant Yeast is about 1 teaspoon, so for 5g, it is about 1 & 1/4 teaspoons. I don't think the ratio of active yeast to instant yeast is 1:1. I read somewhere that active yeast is heavier than instant yeast. I am also looking for the actual conversion.
Hi Happy Homebaker,
Just want to thank you for all your efforts on posting on ur blog. It truely inspires me and whenever I feel down abt something, reading ur blog always perks me up :)
I used to like baking a lot but has totally stopped since my son came along 3 yrs ago. After reading ur blog, i picked up my passion again.
Now my son eats the bread from this sweet bun recipe tt I bake for breakfast every morning!
Hi Anonymous, thanks for your lovely comments :D
I am glad to hear that you have picked up your passion again. I am sure it is very satisfying just to watch your little one eating your bakes :)
So sorry! the message was meant for u! i was reading all the comments in hope of getting a tip for my bun failure. Rita was the lady who just posted above me... pardon my scattered brain.
I think i figured out what went wrong - i didn't knead long enough and the yeast amt. I read your earlier comments and substituted the 5g active dry yeast with baking king's instant yeast. Used about 2 teaspoon as my weighing machine can't detect small changes.
For this recipe, how many tsp/g of instant yeast did u use? I'm going to give this a try again! Your pics are what inspires me.
thank you
pansy
Hi Pansy, for this recipe I used about 1 & 1/4 teaspoons of instant yeast. My weighing scale can only read up till 10g :( So most of the time I go by estimation, always keeping my fingers crossed that things would turn out fine ;)
This is qutie a wet dough, so if you are kneading by hand, you will have to knead it till it is smooth, elastic and the dough should no long sticks to your hand. All the best for your next attempt! Happy Baking :D
Hi HHB,
The taste and texture came out very good but after 6 hrs the texture became very sticky, why is it so? Is it because of our (Singapore) weather?
Hi Jas, no, I don't think it has got to do with the weather. I think, maybe you have under bake it?? Or did you cool it completely on a cooling rack before storing? The bread should stay soft at least to the next day.
Thanks! I will try it again:)
Definitely a keeper, my kids love it alot especially just out of oven.
I like to drop by your blog. Love those cakes and bread. I try to do sweet buns today. The dough is very sticky and not so soft. I use the breadmaker and set to Dough. Since it is sticky, I add some flour to it and knead for a while. The crust is hard. I wonder why is the dough so sticky and not soft.
Hi Jo, I am not quite clear what you meant by 'dough' sticky and not soft? are you refering to the baked bread or the 'raw dough'? If you are referring to the raw dough, from my experience, the dough is very sticky as the water content is quite high. If I were to knead by handm, I will usually need to knead the dough for 30mins until it becomes smooth, elastic and no long stick to my hands. If I use the bread machine, I will let the machine knead for 30mins (20 mins is the standard time, but I force it to stop and re-start again).
If you are referring to the bread (after baking) being sticky, it could mean that you may have under baked the bread, did you use the bread machine or your oven to bake?
As for the hard crust, I am not sure what went wrong as you didn't mention how you went about shaping/proofing the dough. Did you cover the dough when you left it to proof? Since many factors can contribute to the finished bread, you may want to refer to this site (http://www.baking911.com/bread/problems.htm) to see whether you can find out what went wrong?
Hi Happy Homebaker
I'm a fan of your blog, I really loves those pictures you took, it makes me feel like baking as well.
In any case, I tried making the sweet buns, but it turns out very dense and cake-like rather then fluffy like yours, also the crust was really hard. Do you know whats wrong? I kneaded the dough for about 25 minutes until it's no longer sticky and it passed the indent test after 1st proofing. But for the 2nd proofing, i only let it proof for 15 minutes, could that be the reason?
Hi Boringtazz, the sweet buns should not be dense or cake-like. As many factors can contribute to the outcome of the bread, I am not sure what happened to yours. Did you check whether your dough before proofing to see whether it is elastic and won't break off easily? As for the hard crust, did you cover the dough when proofing (both 1st and 2nd time?). It could also due to the baking time/temperature. Did you preheat your oven? You may like to check out this site to see whether you can find the possible cause (http://www.baking911.com/bread/problems.htm#breadproblemshomemade).
dear happyhomebaker,
i simply adore your blog and must say, do envy u to be able to spend your time in the kitchen everyday!! i could only make use of the time i have on weekends as on weekdays, i m almost half a zombie after work! hee
thanks for sharing this recipe!! its my first attempt to bake my own buns using my two hands and the results were beautiful.
here's wishing u a blessed year ahead and may u reap folds of fruitfulness! most imptly, may all the best days in 2008 be the worst in 2009 for u!
happie baking!
thank you happy home baker for your wonderful recipe of sweet buns! I made it this morning and it was really nice and fluffy. i also added sugar to the egg top.. and it came out with a nice crispy top!
hi,
Thanks for sharing ! Really nice of you to take time and effort to explain in details.
I've another question, do we need to buy special tin for baking such bread? What's the height, length of the tin required to make such buns ?
Thanks !
Linda
Hi Linda, you can use a normal square pan to bake the buns. I used a 8" pan for this loaf. The height is about 2~3".
hey.. just wanna say that ur recipe worked fantastic and im determined to try as many recipes i can in ur website...next challengewould be the chiffon cakes which i am always afraid of..hope it works. btw, do u have a pic of the pull man tin, cos im quite puzzled abt that and might want to buy one too..thx
Hi Nutty, I am happy to know that you have great success with the recipe :)
You can take a look over here (http://uk.shopping.com/-pullman+bread+tin) for an illustration of a pullman tin. Hope this helps.
HELLO... I AM USING ELECTRIC OVEN.. SO, DO I NEED TO BAKE USING LOWER BURNER @ BOTH, LOWER & TOP BURNER??
Hi HHB,
I tried this sweet bun recipe. I used my breadmachine only for kneading the dough and kept it at room temperature.But even after 5 hours the dough didn't rise not even a single inch. More over the dough was very sticky.Even though i baked the dough in my oven .But it didn't work well.I don't know why the dough did not rise
Hi Anonyomous, I am sorry, as my oven has got only one heating element, and one setting, I am not able to answer your question.
Hi Anonymous, I am not sure what went wrong. It could be due to the yeast? Do you have such a problem with other bread recipes?
Dear Happy Home Baker
Today again i tried your sweet bun recipe.But this time i used my bread machine for both kneading and rising;because i thought that last time the problem was because of our weather(UK). Here the room temperature is always between the range of 17 and 18 degrees.But even after the machine finished the rising function the dough was not in double size.so i switch on the room heater and kept the dough for 1 hour more. Then the dough became double in size. I was very happy then.But when i finished my baking the buns were ok but not very soft as yours.I used Hovis fast action bread yeast.But the flour was not bread flour.It was plain flour.This is my first baking . I didn't bake anything before.May be better luck next time.I'm a big fan of you.Your recipes are so amaizing. Thanks for sharing the recipes.
Hi Pinku, it could also be due to the temperature of the other ingredients...like milk, egg, they have to be at room temperature as well before using...if the ingredients are too cold, the yeast may not activate. On the other hand, if it is too warm, the yeast may be killed. The best temperature is around 28degC. It is best to use bread flour, as the gluten level is higher than plain flour. With a higher gluten, the bread will rise better and give a softer texture.
HBB! I am so so impressed with ur lovely blog n u noe what i try to bake for the first time in my life. the result :P "i got 9 very very hard bun" I dunno where i go wrong but from all the comments everyone saying their dough is sticky but mine is rather dry even after 1 hour of kneading i still couldn't get soft dough.. judging fr the time i use to knead i tot its enough already. I dunno what is going wrong can u help me to find out?i am so eager to try for another round again :P i find there's a few things weird here.. 1stly i am using measuring cup for both flour = 150gm measurement n i do use spoon to press tight the flour during the measurement process is that wrong?
my measure cup goes by gm n i assume it is g is it ok? 2ndly i use 8 tablespoon = 1/2 cup milk for this recipe. "i try to search thru google for answer the measurement" "silly me didn't read thru the comments b4 i start baking :P" sugar = 2 tablespoon butter = 3 tablespoon. i mix the dry ingredients follow by wet one as u say. any idea on why my dough is so hard even after the mixing up process? :P
newbie
Hi newbie. I am sorry to hear about your unsuccessful attempt. I think you did not measure the ingredients correctly. I suspect the measure of the flour is wrong, usually when measuring by cups, it is not suppose to press the flour into the cup...you may have used to much flour. When the ingredients are first mixed, the dough should already be very wet and sticky. If yours appear too dry then it's either too much flour or too little water. The dough should become smooth and non-sticky after 20-30mins of kneading. You can refer to my post on 'Matcha Red Bean Loaf', I have posted some photos on a bread dough during the kneading stage. You can refer to this site on how to go about measuring flour: (http://www.ehow.com/how_2253639_measure-flour.html) Hope this helps :)
HBB! thank u for ur reply!! i am trying for 2nd time :P now i'm at the proving stage.. yet i was thinking for the final prove after shaping do i need to cover up my dough with cling wrap? is that mean my dough hv to be away from wind just like the 1st proving did?
newbie
HhB~ :) Hihi I'm here again to say thank u for ur prompt reply to my queries hehe :D i try to bake the bun again today n hehe i end up success... although my bun is not fluffy enough but i reali love it "i dunno the reason" :P Oh ya again i suspect is my dough.. i dun think i pass the test but i already knead it for 1 hour 15 minutes. Its either the 2nd proof!! I only leave the dough for 15minutes whereby i saw ur reply was much more longer. Nvm i'll try again in this few days :)
Thank U!
newbie
Hi newbie, yes for the second proof, you will still need to cover the dough with either a damp cloth or cover it loosely with cling wrap. This is to prevent the bread from forming a hard crust upon baking.
Hi homebaker,
Yes, after the success of the crusty white bread, this is next! Alas, didn't turn out as good.
Few factors suspected:
- Over kneading of dough? Kneaded for almost 45 mins in total!
- Didn't let the dough proof enough during first round. 1hr was probably not enough when I noticed the dough didn't actually double in bulk?
- After resting the dough for 15 minutes, instead of just pressing out the gas, I gave the dough some punching! LOL.
- Should second proofing be longer as I only proof for 15 minutes (for crusty white bread, second proofing was 50-60 minutes)?
- Didn't cover the dough properly during second proofing (actually I did lay the clingwrap over the aluminium tray)?
- Oven temperature was too hot?
See how it turned out:
http://dreamersloft.blogspot.com/2009/05/sweet-buns.html
LOL. Will try again!
Hi Daydreamer,
I just read your post. I am not sure about over kneading, my time limit (or rather my arm power threshold) is about 30mins. I read somewhere that we will never be able to over knead a dough by hand ;)
Although I am no expert in baking, I will try to answer your questions based on my experience.
I think the greatest suspect is the 1st proof. I have learned that the time (1 hr) serves only as a guide...it depends on the environment, the temperature of the ingredients...if the liquid/eggs, etc, is too cold, it may take a longer time for the yeast to work. Just let the dough continue to proof if it doesnt double in bulk. Test by poking a floured finger in the dough, it should leave a dent. 2nd proofing can be longer too, especially if there is no apparently increase in volume. I suspect the hard crust was also due to the temperature...your oven may be too hot, or you may have baked too near the heating elements?
Ah, probably the milk and egg weren't sufficiently brought to room temperature...
Thanks! Will try again, a little tired from kneading :p
hello it's my dream to be able to bake bread on my own
but my parents dont support me to work in bakery
therefore am thinking of trying to bake bread at home
home made bread sounds great!
tried the sweet bun recipe but after i mix in all the ingredients to form the dough and start kneading...
as you mention it is sticky initially
but after kneading for almost half an hour my dough is still in the same sticky form as it is initially..
would like to ask for help to find out what went wrong with my dough
is it because i used the wrong yeast?
i am using the packeted powder form yeast ( i think they call it instant dry yeast?)
thanks a lot for any advice
-vincent-
Hi Vincent, Yes, you can use instant yeast. The type of yeast will not have effect on the initial stage of kneading of the dough. I suspect it could be the measurement of the ingredients, maybe too much liquid...you may have used a bigger egg? You can adjust by adding a little bit flour to the dough. I hope your next attempt will be a great success, happy baking!
Hi HBB! It's me again :)
I've always wanted to try making my own buns, my hubby loves them. Instead of spending money outside at bakeries, the prices are going higher and higher, I'm very interested to make my own bun dough.
Just a question though, instead of kneading by hand, can I use a hand mixer and use the dough hook function to knead?
I understand that this dough is very versatile right, can use it for red bean buns, sausage buns etc?
Thanks, so many questions :p
Hi Kristie, you can use your mixer with the dough hook to knead the bread. Most sweet bun recipes can be used as the basic dough recipe and use it for different types of filling.
Thanks HHB, I can see in your recipe that you use cake flour and bread flour. Is it possible to use all bread flour? Will it cost the texture to differ?
Is bread flour same as pau flour or top flour?
Thanks again :)
Hi Kristie, yes this recipes uses a mixture of cake flour and bread flour...I guess it will help to make the bread softer? Sorry I am no expert in the area of baking, so I don't really know the reason behind. Bread flour is different from top flour, I am not sure what is pau flour? Bread flour has got a high glutten level, whereas top flour has low glutten level. You can read more about the different type of flour from this brand "Prima"'s website. Hope this helps.
Hi HHB, I've read up on the types of flour, thanks :)
Is it ok to use all purpose flour in place of cake flour?
Thanks.
Hi Kristie, I am not sure about using plain flour. You can go to this site (joyofbaking.com) to see how you are subsititute cake flour with plain flour (by adding some corn starch to it). Hope this helps.
Thanks HHB.
Hi HHB,
I've just a packet of bread flour and can't wait to try out making my own buns.
Just a few qns :p
-1st proofing has to double in size right? and to do the stretch test.
-2nd proofing is done after sharping and fillings in the dough? Also proof until double in size?
Thanks :)
Hi Kristie, yes to both your questions.
Thanks a lot HHB for always replying to my queries. Will be attempting it soon :)
hi
your bun looks so nice and fluffy, i just had to try it. yesterday, i made a batch in the afternoon, which didnt rise at all. i thought may be that the dough was too wet as it didnt look like pizza doughs i'm used to making. oh yeah and probably killed the yeast when i put the warm milk in (as i normally put warm water for pizza dough). :-)
then i tried again at night, this time making it abit drier. first rise was ok, i was impatient for the second and third as it was late at night. after trying, hubby said, "nice, like scones" i almost wanted to faint. told him they are supposed to be like fourleave bread.
i almost want to give up, but after reading all the comments, i think i'll check what yeast i'm using, start early so i can give enough time to rise and will see how it goes again. :-)
Hi golfmum, there are many factors affecting bread making, I am glad that you will give it a try again. I am sure you will be able to make soft and nice buns on your nice attempt. Happy baking!
Wow. Your blog is amazing and I can't wait to try your recipes. I am wondering if I can double this recipe as I have a big family. Thanks
Claire
Hi Claire, you can double the recipe, in fact I only used half of the original recipe.
Thanks for your prompt reply. I hadn't seen your reply as I was too excited to try the recipe. Turned out GREAT. I made with different fillings. Thanks again.
Claire
Hi, understand that you use fresh milk for your sweet bun recipe. I'm thinking of substituting with kids' packet milk. Do you think this will affect the softness of the bread? Thanks for advice. :)Kim
Hi Kim, Sorry, I am not sure what you meant by kids' packet milk? Is is different from fresh milk? I use low fat fresh milk, since it is not stated in the original recipe, I think as long as it is milk, it should be fine.
Hi, thanks for your reply. I was referring to Marigold packet full cream milk for children. Anyway, i went on to try, twice. The buns are soft but i still them not fluffy enough (not like yours). Wonder if proofing them longer after shaping will make it fluffier. Thing is, i proof for 1/2 hour but the dough did not quite double in size. Other than that, everything else was great. Thanks. I'm glad i chanced upon your blog. :>Kim
Hi Kim, 1/2 an hour is just a guage, it really depends on the room temperature, you can let the doughs proof longer so that they are doubled in size.
Hi,
I have tried the recipe twice, but failed. I used hand method to mix and knead the dough, but after 1/2 hour the 'dough' looked more like a thick batter than what it should be...Do you know what went wrong? I used German type 550 flour (aka. All Purpose Flour)..
Thanks in advance,
Tammy
Hi Tammy, you will need to use bread flour which has a higher gluten level to make this bread.
Hi HHB,
Is it possible to use this recipe to make a sweet loaf instead of small buns using the bread machine?
Thanks
Hi, I have not tried making a loaf using this recipe. You can give it a try though, but do note that the bread machine will give a darker and thicker crust.
Hi HHB
I tried this recipe twice, the first time the crust is very pale and texture's cake-like. I realised it could be bcoz I did not glaze enough and also I only used 1 tsp of yeast instead.
Second try, the crust still not as brown as your despite baking it for 20mins(I glazed all the sides) but texture still cake-like(I used 5g yeast)
I used the bread machine to dough(complete cycle,same machine as yours) restarting it after the first 20mins.
Was reading the questions posted by others & your answers I realised it could be the cold milk, eggs & butter I used...Planning to bake it again tmr but will you be able to guide me how to achieve the brown crust like yours? Thanks
Shirley
Hi Shirley, did the dough rise nicely during the 1st and 2nd proof? If yes, then it shouldn't give a cake like texture.
I don't think it is due to the egg glaze, I hardly glaze my buns (refer my pictures posted under Garlic Buns, Green Tea Buns, Matcha Buns, Otah Buns and White Bread Rolls), but they are able to brown nicely. I suspect it is due to your oven temperature. Did you preheat to the required temperature? Do you use a oven thermometer to check that the temperature is accurate?
The ingredients used have to be in room temperature, especially if you knead by hand. The yeast will not work well if the temp is low. Since you are using BM to knead, it should be ok, as the BM will start to heat up even during the kneading cycle.
Hi HHB
Third attempt today with egg, milk & butter at room temperature in BM full dough cycle restarting after 15mins.
The funny thing is the dough is very sticky at the end of the cycle which has never happen during my 1st and 2nd attempt.
I kneaded it for about 10mins by hand and cover with clingwrap for 15mins. It is still sticky, in the end I just shape it and bake. The crust colour is slightly better and texture soft but it became hard when I tried to eat it.
Not sure if my oven temp is accurate, have to check.As I am staying in US, it is in Fahrenheit but it shd be correct (375F=190C?)
Really don't know what is wrong...
Shirley
Hi HHB,
I attempted the fourth time today and I am so glad I succeeded!After reading from thebestbreadmachine.com, I finally realised what went wrong.
It was so a silly mistake that I overlooked. I actually forgot to proof the dough after I have shaped it!
I reduced the yeast as I am living above 3000ft above sea level here in US and all my baking recipes need adjustments.
Well, I am really glad that I have the fluffiest bread this afternoon ;)
Thanks for the great recipe!
Shirley
Hi Shirley, I am so glad to hear about your successful attempt :D
Hi HHB,
first of all thanks for putting up all your lovely recipes. I am very new to baking bread. i just recently bought a bread maker. my first bread was your hokkaido milky loaf which turned out great.
today i tried to make your sweet bun using my bread maker. i let the bread maker knead and proof the dough. it took about 1hr and 30 min. however, when i took the dough out of my bread maker, i realised that the dough was awfully sticky. i even kneaded with my hands for a while but it was still very sticky. i even used my finger to test if the dough had proofed enough by using your technique of sinking in a finger and observing how fast the dough springs back and it was so sticky that it springed back immediately.i was so disheartened that i din bake the bread after that. sorry for such a long post. would u have any idea wats wrong?
Hi Sheena, I am sorry I do not know what happened. The only thing is, you will need to do the proof test right after the first proof. After you have knead it by hand you will not be able to test it. I suspect maybe the amount of liquid is too much, or maybe the size of the egg you use is too big? or it could be due to the amount of flour. Next time, during the kneading cycle, you can check whether the dough is too sticky, if yes, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time and adjust accordingly. I am sure with more practice, you will be able to get the hang of bread making, happy baking!
Sure. thank u very much for taking the time to reply.i appreciate it very much.
How many teaspoon is 5gm yeast? an i know how you measure your yeast? Digital scale?
Hi HHB,
I tried the same recipe again and i'm happy to say that it came out perfect. soft and fluffy as expected. lovely! I'm not sure why I failed last time but I did a few things differently this time. perhaps thats what saved the bread. last time i had used UHT milk. This time I used fresh milk. last time I softened the butter in my microwave.I did not do that this time. just chopped it and put it in the bread maker. Thank you very much once again.
Hi, 1 teaspoon of yeast is about 4gm. I don't have a digital scale, I use a diet scale that can only read up to 10g.
Hi Sheena, the butter is not supposed to be melted into liquid, just leave it under room temperature to soften it.
Hi HHB,
I tried using your recipe yesterday but it fails...:( I dunno wat went wrong as my whole dough didn't raise all all after 1 hr of proofing. I have a few questions that need your advise:
1) May I know if the proportion of bread flour & cake flour is it half each as i saw some recipe stating Cake flour is abt 1/4 of Bread flour. My dough was too sticky to be knead and end up I add more bread flour.
2)I add the instant yeast to the flour, followed by adding Sugar, Salt before pouring in the milk and Egg. I saw the link u provide said that Yeast must nt be mix tigether with Sugar & Salt but the recipe says to mix all dry ingredients together and knead. Could you kindly advise on this as I am kinda confused.
Sorry for the long questions as it's my 1st time baking bread and I wish to bake for my girl as she loves sweet buns. Tks in adv. :)
Hi Joy, I am not sure what went wrong, but this recipe gives very sticky dough, if you are kneading by hand, you will need to knead continuously for at least 30mins.
1) I used half bread flour and half cake flour for this recipe. Some other recipes will only use a smaller portion of the cake flour.
2) If you are using a bread machine, when adding the yeast, it is best not to add it at the same 'spot' with sugar and salt. especially if you are using the DELAY funtion of the bread machine to make bread. If you are kneading by hand, it is ok to mix everything together. Hope this helps :)
Hi HHB, Tks for replying.
I knead by hand as I dun hv any bread machine.
Btw, I didn't hv any milk, so I replaced some water with 3 tablespoon of milk to obtain 125g of milk.Do u think it's ok?
Also, I didn't mix the yeast with the water, I just mix all dry ingredients together, do u think it's due to this tat caused my dough didn't raise as usually the yeast hv to mix with water bef pouring into the flour? Beside tata, wld u advise me to use maybe abt 11g of yeast for this recipe for better raising? :(
Hope u could help me. Thx!
Joy, I think your milk mixture shouldnt be a problem. and if you are using INSTANT yeast, you don't have to mix it in water. Only for those "Active Dry yeast", you will need to dissolve in water before using. I don't think it is advisable to increase the amount of yeast, use the amount according to the recipe. btw, did you make sure the ingredients are not cold, like the egg should be room temperature. If the other ingredients are too cold, the yeast will not activate, too hot, the yeast will be killed. If the dough is not well kneaded, the dough will not proof well too.
Hi HHB, I tried to attempt a 2nd try today. My dough finally raise after 1 hr!! Thanks you!
However, the outer part of the bun is quite hard, not so soft like yours, it's more like 'stone' hahaha. Also, the inner bread is not as floffy and fine like yours. Mine was quite course. Do u hv any idea why is that so?
Hi Joy, did you cover the doughs during the 2nd proof? The crust will turn hard if the doughs are not covered.
Hi HHB,
I did. I used a damp cloth/ cling flim to cover as I proof it in the oven like you. However, I was not able to get the same texture of crust like yours, so soft. My bread crust was like a 'hard and rough shell'.. :( Btw, do u think during my kneading, I likda 'spank' and knead quite hard many times on the working table (as I read this from another baking blog, staing must do that to make the dough gluten works. Do u do that too during kneading or you just knead it using heel of your plam till smooth?
I wonder how you managed to get such a soft and shiny bread crust texture.
Hi Joy, maybe it is due to the kneading, your dough may not be well-kneaded. I knead the bread by using the heel of my palm. I think after a few practices I am sure you will be able to get the right texture. You can take a look at my post "Matcha Red Bean Loaf" to get an idea how I went about kneading by hand. Hope it helps!
Hi HHB,
Thanks for your reply.
I will try again. :)
I have a feeling I kinda over knead than under knead my dough, though I know generally over-knead a dough is less common.
I let you know if I managed to success to find the reason. :)
Hii!
I'm ready to bake sweetbuns
but I have one question:
Do you place the dough in the fridge to raise? :o
Thanks!
My blogspot: http://icepandora.blogspot.com
Hi, no, I leave the dough to proof at room temperature.
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